COLUMBIA, Mo. — Two cornerstones of Mizzou Athletics history are headed to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. Norm Stewart’s 1994 Elite Eight men’s basketball team and Dr. Rick McGuire, who built Missouri track and field into a national power over 27 seasons, headline the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2026, set to be enshrined Sunday, Oct. 25 in Columbia.
The 1994 Tigers remain one of just five teams in program history to reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament. Behind Big Eight Player of the Year Melvin Booker, Missouri rolled to a 28-4 record and swept the league at 14-0 to claim the regular-season title. The Tigers earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region and rolled past Navy (76-53), Wisconsin (109-96) and Syracuse (98-88 in overtime) to reach the regional final, where they fell one win short of the Final Four against Arizona.
That run was the centerpiece of a season that also featured a 15-game winning streak, a season sweep of rival Kansas and a triple-overtime Braggin’ Rights win over Illinois. Stewart, a Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Legend since 2012, guided the team alongside assistant coaches Kim Anderson — a future Missouri head coach — Rich Daly and Lee Winfield. Booker, a consensus second-team All-American, headlined a roster that also featured Jevon Crudup, Kelly Thames, Julian Winfield and senior captain Lamont Frazier.
McGuire retired in July 2010 after 27 years leading the Tigers, a tenure that produced 141 All-America honors, 110 individual conference championships, seven NCAA individual or relay titles and eight NCAA Regional championships. Along the way, he coached 46 Olympic Trials qualifiers and 27 USA National Team members and guided four athletes to the Olympic Games, including silver medalists Natasha Kaiser-Brown (1992, Barcelona) and Christian Cantwell (2008, Beijing).
Just as central to McGuire’s program was the classroom. His women’s teams have earned a spot on the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Academic list for 46 consecutive seasons, the men for 22. A national leader in the sport, McGuire served on the U.S. Olympic Team staff in 1992 and 1996 and founded Mizzou’s nationally recognized sport psychology program in 1985, teaching in it well after his retirement.
The Class of 2026 will be enshrined at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25, following a noon reception at the Wyndham Executive Center-Columbia Mall. For more information on tickets to the event and sponsorship opportunities, call 417-889-3100.
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